One game down, one victory, a hard fought one for Liverpool, the fixture list certainly did not favour the club when it decided that the Merseysiders would face Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City in their next 6 away games. At least the Reds started the season by getting rid of the 6-1 demons that have haunted them since that fateful day in Stoke.

In a rugged defensive display, something that Rodgers’ Liverpool is not known for, the team ensured that Stoke didn’t really have a lot of chances to score but that came to the detriment of their own attacking output. Liverpool did line-up with the big money signing of Christian Benteke but he couldn’t do much to get into the game. The Belgian tried to link up with Coutinho and Lallana during the first half but he didn’t really test the Stoke goalkeeper.

Liverpool needed a bit of Brazilian magic from Philippe Coutinho, as he lashed home a wonderful winner to give Liverpool the victory. Liverpool also started with James Milner, Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Clyne, while another new boy Roberto Firmino came on late for the team.

Rodgers must be pleased with the overall performance of the defence, especially Dejan Lovren, who was immense in the heart of the defence but that position was the only positive for Liverpool in the last game. Lovren, Skrtel, Clyne and Mignolet were exceptional as a unit, while Joe Gomez did pretty well considering his age.

Where do Liverpool need to improve?

Well, attack obviously, the linkage between the wingers and Benteke has to get better. The Belgian isn’t the worst player with the ball at his feet but his real talent lies in bullying defenders and winning those headers. Liverpool are not a crossing team but they need to adapt to the burly striker otherwise it could be an incredibly poor signing.

The other aspect of the team that really needs to be worked up on is the midfield pairing. James Milner and Jordan Henderson are somewhat similar players, one stays to hold the midfield while the other pushes up but when the pair played together, Liverpool had no bite or driving force from midfield. The complexity of the game and the dynamics of the team changed when Emre Can was brought on to replace the ineffective Adam Lallana.

The midfield gave the freedom to Henderson and Milner to get up and join the attack. It will be interesting to see how Liverpool line-up in the next game against Bournemouth, they still have a lot of work to do, especially in midfield but they have the talent and this victory over Stoke certainly would give them the confidence to face any team.